Two events, one divided party: Inside ODM ‘pawa’ struggle
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ODM supporters during the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Special Delegates Convention at the ASK Dome, Jamhuri Expo Centre in Nairobi on Friday, March 27.
ODM party has been central to Kenya’s politics and five presidential elections for over two decades.
For the first time since its formation, ODM convened without Raila Odinga at the centre.
At Ufungamano House, a rival faction gathered under police resistance, framing its meeting as a continuation of dissent.
While the Jamhuri convention projected order and finality, the Ufungamano gathering challenged its legitimacy.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the party formed by Raila Odinga in 2005 and which has been central to Kenya’s politics and five presidential elections over two decades, on Friday staged two parallel political theatres in Nairobi: one choreographed, procedural and steeped in institutional continuity at Jamhuri Grounds; the other defiant, chaotic and symbolically rooted in resistance at Ufungamano House, laying bare a party at a crossroads over both leadership and identity.
At Jamhuri Grounds, the orange wave still rolled in with familiar force. Delegates streamed in from across the country, ferried in buses and clad in party colours, as the Special Delegates Convention (SDC) unfolded with precision.
